Mary Cosby Finally Clocked In to RHOSLC
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City vibrates at a very high frequency. In its five glorious seasons, we’ve had on-camera arrests, a scammer finding her way into the cast, and the invention of “high-body-count hair” thanks to Angie Katsanevas. This is what happens when you have a cast that is playing at being Housewives like their lives depended on it.
And then there’s Mary Cosby. One of the original cast members, Mary has always said exactly what was on her mind and is blunt perhaps to the point of rudeness. She’s been dismissive of her castmates while insulting them to their faces, whether it’s by saying Jen Shah smells like hospital or likening Whitney Rose to a “bobblehead.” Without an ally on the cast, Mary skipped the second-season reunion and seemed like she’d be gone for good.
But after Jen Shah’s guilty plea, the producers asked her back for season four, where she scandalized viewers by saying she had no interest in even getting to know new girl Angie K., skipping all-cast events, and choosing not to participate when she showed up, which culminated in her taking the cast’s Sprinter van to the McDonald’s drive-through while they were partying at a bar.
This most recent season, however, Mary has been the MVP. She’s not only friends with Angie K.; she went to a hip-hop dance class with her. She’s bothered to get to know the women, engaged in their fights, shown up at every event (though often quite late), and become the hilarious Greek chorus, cutting through all the reality-TV bullshit and telling it exactly as she sees it. She also shared a devastating scene in which she talked to her son, Robert Jr., about his addiction issues and got him into recovery. As the season wrapped up, we spoke with Mary to ask just what changed since her last go-round on RHOSLC, the effect of sharing her most difficult moments onscreen, and the “M-E-S-S” that is new girl Britani Bateman.
We saw you come back last season as a “friend of,” and you didn’t even want to get out of the Sprinter van. And then this season you’re at hip-hop dance class, you’re making friends with the ladies, you’re going to all the events. What changed?
Last season I don’t think I was really ready. I was asked to come back, and I don’t know if I just wasn’t prepared, but I really just didn’t feel good last season. I came from being not there mentally, physically, and then just jumping back into it. But I just wasn’t well. My body didn’t feel good. I did it because they asked me to, basically.
And then season five I wanted to come and I engaged. I just prepared myself, like, Okay, I’m going to do this, and I’m going to give it my all, and I’m going to give the viewers something because I know we have to get it together. Because after Monica, it was like, “We have to be vulnerable, and that’s the only way people will connect.” And that’s when I just kind of clocked in and showed up.
How did it feel after you clocked in? Did you enjoy filming this season more?
I did enjoy it. I was in the moment, and I made it worth what it was. The women weren’t all coming at me. I wasn’t trying to be painted the villain. The narrative was more positive toward me, so yeah, it made me happy, and it made me enjoy being there. I feel like the plot got pushed forward, kind of fast-forward to the new Mary: “Welcome. Hi, you guys. This is the original me, but I didn’t ever get a chance to show it.”
Did you have any favorite parts of filming the season?
I loved and enjoyed Milwaukee. The beer was cool. I never had beer in my life. I didn’t think I would ever even taste a beer.
Have you had beer since?
I have not. I’m still a Dom Pérignon girl. That’ll always be my drink. But I just really enjoyed going to Milwaukee. I just wanted to be myself, and I wanted the viewers in the world to see who Mary really is.
Do you think that the other ladies on the show also got to see the real Mary?
I don’t know. I don’t think so. They were so mean to me. I don’t think they were interested before, and it surprised them that I can have a really good friendship with someone and maintain a friendship, because they never were interested in trying to befriend me. It felt like me against the world and them too. But I think that they opened up a place for me this time where I could let them in, and they let me in. I feel like they’d never seen me before. I think they just didn’t know I was this cool.
Last season, you didn’t even want to talk to Angie, and this season, like you said, you two are really close. How did your relationship start to change?
When I went to the reunion for season four, I had worn these Tom Ford bracelets, and Angie knew exactly what they were. And my husband, Robert Sr., also said, “You and Angie have a connection.” And I said, “We do?” He’s like, “Yeah, look at you guys.” And so when he said that, I just kind of dropped my wall and let her in to see what she was like, because I trusted what he said. She thinks it is because she told me I had lipstick on my teeth at the reunion, and I’m sure that helped, but it was just kind of giving her a chance.
What do you love about Angie?
I can be myself with her. Her conversation is good. She’s a good listener, and she builds me up. She’s not a friend that tears you down. I can go on and on, but I feel like the main thing is the trust, and I can be who I am with her, and she loves it, and it’s just mutual.
We saw you opening up to her about everything that was going on with Robert Jr. before telling any of the other women. Why was that?
I felt like she was really caring about my situation, and she really didn’t mind listening. I’m a person that I carry my own burdens; I take care of my own problems. I just felt like she was present, and she was ready to hear, and she was ready to listen, and she wasn’t ready to celebrate what I’m going through — something like I feel like Lisa would’ve done.
After watching the season and seeing the story with Robert Jr. play out, did you hear from any of the other ladies?
Yeah, I heard from all of them. I even heard from Britani. Lisa was the only one that didn’t reach out, and that’s why I said I felt she’s kind of the person that is a little bit happy when other people are going through something. But everyone else and even other Housewives reached out to me. Even Rihanna reached out to me. I was happy I did it after I received the way the people accepted it and loved it.
What was your decision-making process about sharing this with the world? Were you worried about it before everybody had seen it?
No, I wasn’t worried, surprisingly. I pray a lot, and I like my life to be directed by God, and I like for him to tell me what’s good for me or what journey I should embark upon, and I felt like I was led to do that. I told my son, “You’re going to tell me what’s up with you, and we’re going to talk about it, and hopefully if we just help one person, we did our job.”
After we did it, I didn’t know it was that good. When I watched it, I bawled my eyeballs out. I was shocked that that’s what we delivered.
Can I ask how Robert Jr. is doing now?
He’s doing so good. He’s taking one day at a time. That’s what he can only do, and that’s what I ask of him. He’s doing great, and I’m very proud of him, very proud of him. And he’s happy that we did our little talk over 59,000 cameras in front of the world and nation, and we both really went in it together, him wanting help and me wanting to help him. We’re both glad, and he’s doing good. I don’t want to jinx it.
It must’ve been really hard for you to go through that, too. How are you doing?
Thank you for asking me that. No one has even asked me. I’m actually doing great. I’m getting a lot of love. Like I said, Rihanna reached out to me twice. She reached out to us when the show aired and told us she loved us. And then on Christmas Day, she said, “Merry Christmas, and I love you and Robert Jr.” I feel like if you can reach people of that caliber, you’re doing something right, you know what I mean?
We had different bloggers, like The Sun, TMZ, they were all threatening that they were going to tell the story that Robert’s in rehab. I thought to myself, Well, go right ahead. And they’re like, “Well, we want your input.” I’m like, “I’m not talking to you. I’m not saying anything.” And when it aired and it did good, I was like, “Okay, what are you guys going to post now? Eat your heart out.”
Let’s talk about some of the fun things from the season, one of my favorites of which is you showing up to Meredith’s bat mitzvah late and peering through the windows.
Okay, so this is the thing: I live in Salt Lake City. I have an 84103 Zip Code. I don’t live in Park City. So even if I leave my home on time, I’m still going to be late because of the drive. It’s like an hour drive for me to get from my home to Park City. So then when you get to Park City and then you have to drive into Heber and go all the way into the thick of it, into the trenches, you’re late. That’s my excuse. Trying to find the door was a challenge. It was this huge building. I just get out of the car, the event has started, so no one’s out there to tell me where to go. So I’m like, Well, maybe if I look through the window.
Did it make you laugh watching it?
I cracked up. I was like, What are you doing? What are you doing, Mary? Just find a door and walk in it. But I think it was good TV. And I had a little help from the producers. They didn’t really help me find the door.
Of course they didn’t! It was Bronwyn Newport’s first season as a Housewife. How do you think she did?
I think she did excellent; she’s a very beautiful addition to the show. However, in the end, she starts to weaken for me. For some reason, she is very demanding for Lisa’s friendship and her validation, and for me, that’s signs of weakness because when you have other women that are willing to be your friend and you only want Lisa to the point where you’re going back and not being honest about everything and just kind of appearing two-faced, I think that that might get her a little bit in trouble. Me personally, I don’t know why they want to be friends with Lisa so bad.
And what about the other new addition, Britani? How do you think she did?
Britani’s a mess. M-E-S-S. I can’t, just a mess to me, but it’s a mess for TV, and it’s a mess for Bravo, and it’s the mess that we kind of need.
Do you think it was that big of a deal that she was filming everybody in the back of the Sprinter van?
My thing is, What was she planning on doing with it had she not got caught? You know what I mean? Was she trying to blackmail us? You just don’t know because of what we’ve been through in our past. We’ve been through a lot of things, and we’ve been betrayed by a lot of women. As you can see, I didn’t really engage that much going at her. Meredith and them did all the yelling. That was good enough.
So if you were to be asked back for another season, would you do it? And would we see this Mary 2.0 come back again?
Of course I would do it. I mean, this is who I am, so I won’t be able to channel into another character and come back as someone else. I just think that now that Bravo knows This is who Mary is, you’ll always get this Mary.
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